Tokyo Marathon 東京マラソン

Viktor Rothlin of Switzerland won today's Tokyo Marathon in 2.07.23. Rothlin, a World Championships bronze medalist, left everyone behind in the last 6km, chased by dark horse Arata Fujiwara, who took second in 2.08.40. Third was Julius Gitahi of Kenya in 2:08:57.

With the exception of Fujiwara, however, most of the Japanese runners will be disappointed: Toshinari Suwa's 4th place in 2.09.16, and Satoshi Irufune's 5th place did not earn them a place on Japan's Olympic team.

Last year's winner, Daniel Njenga, who runs for Yakult (second in this photo) could only managed 13th.

My Namban Rengo club mates all ran well, with amazing performances by Ed, Christian, Rie, Mika, Paddy and Bob (see photos below) and another good run by Steve.


Ed was flying. And thanks to his "Edo" T-shirt, he was getting a lot of cheers.


Christian was running fast - and went through 25km and 31km looking equally fresh. He finished in 2.49!


Bob came through in a great time and even had energy left to wave.


Brett and Omar were taking it "easy" for them - sitting on 3 hour pace.

Gerard - were you taking it a bit easy through 25km? You seemed to step on the gas soon after. Gerard is the yellow spec in the distance - too quick for my camera skills.


Gareth was smiling at 25km, but the smile had gone at 31.


Mika made a 3.09 look easy.


Paddy came past so quickly I nearly missed him. He ran an awesome 2.58.


Satohi looked strong, and found energy to wave.


The big crowds of runners didn't start until most of the Nambanners had passed.


Some more pictures of the front runners...